Blood pressure, self-reported symptoms and job-related problems in schoolteachers

The relationship between blood pressure and self-reports of physical symptoms and job-related problems was investigated in a sample of 262 male and female teachers. The subjects were divided into three groups: treated hypertensives (THT, N = 23); untreated hypertensives (UHT, N = 101); and normotensives (NT, N = 123). After controlling for eight potentially confounding variables, the groups differed significantly with respect to reported physical symptoms, with THT reporting the most and UHT the fewest symptoms. Moreover, after controlling for potential confounders, a multiple regression analysis revealed an inverse association between diastolic blood pressure and the number of reported physical symptoms in untreated subjects. A similar trend for systolic blood pressure did not reach significance. In addition, no significant results with respect to work-related problems were obtained, except for a group x gender interaction on job-related irritation: male THT showed lowest and female THT highest irritation scores. The potential role of altered appraisal, diagnosis, and gender are discussed.